No to pub flats plan

The future of an empty city pub has still not been decided after another flats plan was rejected by the council.

Proposals to convert the Garibaldi Inn in St John’s into six flats were unanimously rejected by the council’s planning committee over fears it would make parking problems near the busy city gateway even worse.

Councillors have previously rejected a plan to convert the pub, which has been empty since 2019, into seven flats with parking issues again the main point of contention.

A final decision on the plan was deferred by the council’s planning committee in December last year but instead of reworking the application to make it more acceptable, the plan was put forward without any changes.

St John’s councillor Richard Udall said parking was already a nightmare around Bromyard Road and more cars from another six flats would do nothing but make the problems worse.

“It’s fair to say there is universal opposition to this proposition as the nightmare it would create in parking terms is intense,” he told the city council’s planning committee at a meeting at the Guildhall on Thursday.

Cllr Udall said allowing more flats to be built would create “parking chaos” in an already heavily congested area.

“I simply don’t believe it can cope with any more on-street parking,” he added. “It would be a damage to the neighbourhood.”

Cllr Alan Amos said it would be “irresponsible” to approve a planning application in a congested area with five fewer car parking spaces than required.

“It’s not a marginal difference, it’s a significant difference,” he told the planning committee.

“You can’t keep trying to put a quart into a pint pot. Just because you have a building doesn’t mean you can fill it with people and cars.

“You need to think of the consequences of these decisions.”

City council planning officers had recommended the plan was approved despite a strong objection from the county council’s highways department over the shortfall in parking spaces.

Worcestershire County Council said at least eight spaces would be needed before it was comfortable with allowing the work to go ahead but only three have been proposed.